Wednesday, July 27, 2005

I picked up a copy of Alexandra Antonioni's Eat Me at a bookstore last Thursday. The book, bylined 'Love, Sex and the Art of Eating', is a pink girly paperback and I guess I was tempted by the luscious-looking cake on the cover. I fancied some light reading and light it was - I finished it in less than 2 nights. So it's not exactly a brainteaser, but it was entertaining, enjoyable and fun. Here's the synopsis:

Sex and the City meets the culinary goddess within, in this delicious offering on love, sex and the art of eating.

Let Alexandra Antonioni take you on an entertaining journey through the highs and lows of modern-day relationships, set against a backdrop of culinary flirting and romantic probability. From first-date dinners to post-coital snacks and comfort food when it all goes wrong, this book is interspersed with delicious recipes as well as relationship advice, personal anecdotes and the author's own dating distasters.

An ideal read for those who appreciate the mouth-watering marriage of food and love.

The synopsis is pretty accurate. There's also an element of Bridget Jones' like musings, so overall it felt like reading someones romantic love-cum-foodblog:)

I did skip some of her recipes. As I don't eat seafood other than fish (long-long story)*, Antonioni's recipes for oyster and prawn dishes to be eaten in bed wearing close to nothing left me cold. But I did made a mental list of many delicious-sounding dishes that are provided in the book, e.g.

Alex's Love Juice (a Thai soup to be eaten in sickness and in health)Bellini Cocktails (esp good in moments of thunder and lightning)Chicken with Goat's Cheese and Roasted Vegetables (Meet Me After Work and Bring Your Toothbrush dinner)Chicken Liver Parfait (to be served at your first joint housewarming cocktail party)Chocolate Dacquise (see Bellini cocktails)Chocolate and Raspberry Log (meeting La Famiglia)Cigliege Sotto Spirito (Boozy Cherries are good for any time)Risotto with Taleggio and Pumpkin (see Chicken with Goat's Cheese)Seared Duck Breast with Sour Cherry Sauce (should re-spark the relationship)Watermelon Margarita (see Chicken Liver Parfait)

She inserts lots of amusing food and love-related aphorisms and statements from various literary heroes (from Shakespeare to Woody Allen to Homer Simpson), and also suggests what music to listen while eating her recommended dishes (Leonhard Cohen when you're heartbroken for instance).

And I just realised that I must be an advertisers' dream. How the hell did I manage to buy another Nina Simone and Edith Piaf album when shopping for a new suitcase last weekend? Was that because Antonioni recommends them both for romantic dinners or was it just a coincidence???

* Alexandra Antonioni quotes Woody Allen saying I will not eat oysters; I want my food dead, Not sick, not wounded ... dead (page 42). Maybe I should use it next time instead of explaining and justifying my aversion for shrimps, oysters, calamari, octopus, mussels, crayfish etc etc etc...

6 comments:

It's funny; there's an Australian novel also called "Eat Me", written by an outspoken lesbian, which is most definitely referring to another type of eating! It caused a bit of a stir in the media a few years ago! I have read a few bits from it, but I can't say it really grabbed me, you know. I'm sure it's an interesting story, about bondage and whipped cream, but......

Well, this particular "Eat Me" book was naughty, granted, but in a thoroughly decent and respectable way:)))) No bondage whatsoever (or maybe my prude mind has forgotten that bit already. Need to eat more rosemary:)

Hi Pille, im Alex, the author of Eat Me, just wanted to sat thanks for buying the book and glad you enjoyed it, your review was extremely accurate, its my first book so its interesting to hear 'real' peoples opinions and not just the reviewers thoughts.